The Values Vote
First, a confession: I couldn’t do it. I wanted to vote for one of the two nominees from the dominant parties, but I just could not offer my vote to either. I went for the Green candidate, since he was for universal health care and conservation policies that 20 years from now we will all…
Legal Failure or Moral Success?
Does the ban on partial-birth abortion really save babies’ lives? Does the ban violate the U.S. Constitution? How crucial is the ban to the pro-life movement? This summer, federal judges in California, New York and Nebraska dealt a major setback to pro-life efforts to ban the controversial par
Needed: A New Spiritual Left
For years the Democrats have been telling themselves “it’s the economy, stupid.” Yet consistently, for dozens of years, millions of middle income Americans have voted against their economic interests to support Republicans who have tapped a deeper set of needs. Tens of millions of
Bankruptcy and the Catholic Church
On July 6, 2004, the Archdiocese of Portland, Ore., became the first Catholic diocese in the history of the United States to seek the protection of the bankruptcy court. On Sept. 20, 2004, the Diocese of Tucson became the second. Both of these filings resulted from the wave of lawsuits brought again
Of Many Things
Of Many Things
When the Franciscans of the Holy Land elected their new superior last spring, they opted for renewal. The custos or guardian, so called because of the Franciscans’ traditional role in protecting the holy places, is a 39-year-old Italian priest, Pierbattista Pizzaballa. With just 14 years in th
Letters
Letters
Immense Debt
Thanks to Leo J. O’Donovan, S.J., for his magnificent tribute to my former professor, Karl Rahner, S.J. (11/8). I was a student at the University of Innsbruck from 1958 to 1962 and witnessed firsthand the genius and humility of this great priest-theologian.
The church owes an immense debt to Karl Rahner, who inspired so much…
Editorials
The Family of Europe
The signing of the new European constitution in Rome on Oct. 29 was a bittersweet moment for Catholics on the continent. It is the latest achievement of a movement initiated by postwar Christian Democrats, like Robert Schuman, Konrad Adenauer and Alcide de Gasperi, which began with the European Coal
Faith in Focus
Faith Underground
Among my New York City circle of friends, I am considered to be the best read. This is not because I am the most educated or gifted with the highest I.Q. It is because I have the longest commute. When one lives in the outer borroughs, as our less enlightened, Manhattan-centric brethren call them, on
Books
Preparing for the End Time
Religious forces in the Middle East and in the United States are complex While Muslim Jewish Catholic and Orthodox perspectives are widely known account is often not taken however of the strong millennial movement in the evangelical subculture which assigns a special theological significance
Toward Higher Ground
View From the Altar is a must-read for all who are interested in understanding the causes of the scandal of sexual abuse by members of the Catholic clergy Howard Bleichner a Sulpician priest who has served for 40 years in seminary formation 20 of them as rector of two major seminaries deserves t
Passionate Peacemaker
In the years between the death of Martin Luther King Jr in 1968 and the end of the 20th century the Rev William Sloane Coffin Jr was the most influential liberal Protestant in America He never achieved King rsquo s level of influence but the media-friendly and pervasive force of his personalit
The Word
The Peaceable Kingdom
quot The Peaceable Kingdom rdquo a print by the German-born illustrator Fritz Eichenberg is one of many artistic representations of the oft-quoted passage from Isaiah we hear today We see animals that are natural enemies sitting together peacefully under the widespread branches of a sheltering
Preserved Without Stain
For many people the feast of the Immaculate Conception is as confusing as is the familiar statue that honors Mary under that title One reason is that the Gospel reading recounts the conception of Jesus not that of Mary As for the statue today rsquo s passage from Genesis clearly states that it
Faith
A Life-Giving Choice
For many people today, globalization is happening at the dinner table. My wife and I, both of Irish-American descent, stare across the table every day at two exquisitely Chinese faces. As toddlers, both our daughters traveled halfway around the world to be at home with us, their hope-filled parents,
News
Signs of the Times
U.S. Bishops’ Conference Elects Skylstad and GeorgeAt their meeting in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 15-17, the National Conference of Catholic Bishops elected new leaders, approved a catechism for adults and joined a new ecumenical group aimed at bringing together all the Christian churches in th
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